Living Our Dream

After our two-day drive from Florida to the Pittsburgh area for J. Michael's father's funeral, we spent the week with family at the funeral home, at the funeral service, and at the memorial service. We had little time to spend at the motor home at the KOA in Washington, PA. It's just as well, because the KOA is situated on a hill overlooking the eastern end of the section of highway where I-70 and I-79 come together. Although the campground itself is fairly nice with well-spaced sites, there was a LOT of road noise. The noise did lessen somewhat late at night, but the trucks were almost constant. The campground is run by a very nice Canadian couple who retired 6 years ago and bought the KOA. After buying the campground, they went 4 years without either one of them having a day off, which is not exactly our idea of retirement. The photo below is our site at the Southeast Pittsburgh KOA in Washington, PA.

We pulled out of the campground early Monday morning and stopped by Colussy Chevrolet (where J. Michael works as comptroller) for an oil change in the motor home before we were on our way to the Amish country in Berlin, OH. Although Colussy is not an official Workhorse Chassis Service Center, they sell quite a few medium duty trucks, and they know their way around heavier chassis vehicles. If you're in the area and need service for your car, truck, or motor home, give them a call.

By mid-afternoon, we arrived in Berlin and got set up at Scenic Hills RV Park just outside town. The campground is built on three levels and only the main area by the office was open when we first got there. The photo below shows our site.

The owners of the campground were hard at work spreading gravel, grading, repairing, and mowing getting ready for larger crowds that spring would bring. Scenic Hills is located beside a lumber mill that does planing and kiln drying of lumber. There is some noise from the dust collector at the mill; but, since the mill doesn't operate on Saturdays or Sundays, the noise is not a problem on a weekend visit or if, during the week, you're away from the rig most of the day sightseeing. However, we were still recuperating from the flu and surgery and planned to stick pretty close to home so the mill and the back-up beepers on the fork lifts were a little bothersome. By the second week of our stay, they had opened some of the sites in the other areas of the campground, so we decided to move to the lower level where we awoke to chirping birds instead of back-up beepers. The photo below shows our site on the lower level.

We considered heading a little farther south for a while looking for warmer weather; but with the rising cost of fuel, we decided to stay put since we were planning to head back to the Pittsburgh area at the end of April for our originally-planned visit with Lora and J. Michael and for the doctor appointments we had previously scheduled. There were a couple of nights down in the upper 20s and two dreary, rainy, windy days in the 50s; but, especially for April, the weather really wasn't all that bad. We were treated to a beautiful, bright rainbow after one rainy afternoon.

Berlin is one of our favorite locations because we like the rural atmosphere, the well-kept Amish farms, and the delicious food that is available. We went there last year after leaving the Pittsburgh area in August. This year, we got to see fields being plowed in preparation for spring planting.

Lora and J. Michael drove out for the day while we were in Berlin to meet us at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek for breakfast. While they were there, we stopped at the Amish Flea Market and at Lehman's Hardware, where they sell many non-electrical appliances for the Amish as well as many hard-to-find tools and farm items. The photo below shows Margery and Lora as Barker's Beauties doing a "Price is Right" showing of a wood-burning kitchen stove.

We made many of our favorite stops while we were in Berlin, including several at Der Dutchman Restaurant. We love their breakfast buffet and their salad bar. The photo below shows Paul starting to load up his plate.

Stops at Sugar Valley Meats for smoked beef jerky and ham loaf mix, at Heini's Cheese for jalapeño yogurt cheese, and at Winesburg Meats for beef sticks were also on our schedule. Did you notice how many of our favorite places involve food? It was a treat to visit Heini's during the week when we could actually see the cheese being made.

The fun thing about Heini's is that they provide cheese samples for almost all of their cheeses. On the weekends, you just get in line and slowly shuffle your way around the store munching cheese samples as you go. During the week we could move unhindered.

Margery did spend a morning at Miller's Dry Goods in nearby Charm, OH researching patterns for a comfort quilt she wants to make for those undergoing chemotherapy. Miller's is a can't-miss store for any quilter. There are two buildings, one with quilting supplies and the one below...

...that has loads of pattern books and stencils.

The other building has one floor FULL of current fabrics...

...and a basement filled with fabrics on sale.

Who would think the little town of Charm would also have such a large home and lumber center as Keim Lumber? Holmes County, where Berlin and Charm are located and which has the world's largest concentration of Amish, is a huge area for woodworking and the Amish are quite good at it. Many Amish farms have signs at the end of the driveway advertising furniture for sale. There are dozens larger furniture shops with almost any type of wood furniture, most of it locally made. Holmes County also has numerous mills rough sawing lumber as well as shops doing kiln drying, planing, and making custom millwork. We're not sure where they get all the trees!

Keim Lumber not only has most of the usual selection of home building and remodeling supplies and tools; they also sell professional-grade woodworking machines to many of the mills and furniture shops. In addition to construction lumber, they have a huge selection of hardwoods including a wide variety of exotic woods from all over the world. They had remodeled since we had last visited, and Margery particularly found the store jaw-dropping.

The woodwork decorating the store itself is beautiful.

This is a display of antique tools including the first rip saw used in 1911 when the Keim Lumber first opened.

Next to their exotic wood department, there was this large burl available for just $475. Burls like this are prized by woodworkers for the highly figured wood they contain.

This 452 year old Bubinga slab was harvested in Africa. The Bubinga tree the slab was taken from was a seedling in 1555. The slab is available to the first $1,995 that is offered. Each paper square relates a year and a world event.

This has become a destination home and lumber center. Refreshments are available at the Carpenter's Cafe on the mezzanine.

On the way out of Charm we drove up to these buggies. Notice the team of plow horses traveling up the road off in the distance at the top of the picture.

Like many travelers, Wal-Mart is our store of choice for grocery shopping. It's interesting to see how the grocery items can vary from one part of the country to another. In the southwest, Mexican ingredients, both fresh and canned, abound. Here in the northest, we can find canned three-bean salad and frozen pirogies. In Florida, Wal-Mart has a large stock of wines including Childress wines of NASCAR owner Richard Childress fame. However, the Wal-Mart in Millersburg was the first one we've visited that included a hitching rail for the Amish buggies. And it was interesting to see the Amish using debit cards when checking out.

Plans for our summer travels are beginning to take shape. We registered for the Escapees Escapade in Gillette, WY in July with the intention of going to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons afterward. We are hoping our fuel budget holds out. Escapees is an organization that supports RVers, especially full-timers. Their rallies are called Escapades. We attended an Escapade our first year of full-timing in October, 2006 and we enjoyed it. Since 2008 is the Escapees' 30th anniversary, we thought we would attend again. The Escapades have seminars including topics on lifestyle, RV maintenance and repair, and hobbies. They also have entertainment, a market area for vendors of RV-related products and accessories, and plenty of opportunities to meet other RVers.

Margery's knees are doing quite well. She is able to make it through a complete shopping trip around Wal-Mart and still stand in line to check out without having to stop to sit a few minutes. We started taking a couple of medium-length walks around the campground just about every day with the plan of gradually lengthening the walks so Margery can build up stamina by strengthening her leg and thigh muscles. We're looking forward to some of the easier one or two-mile hikes at Yellowstone.

From Berlin, it will be back to Pittsburgh for another short stay, then we will take our time getting to Gillette for the Escapade.

When we drove to Mount Dora to meet our friends and tour the Dora Canal, we passed through the small town of Yalaha. In Yalaha there is a rather large, German bakery that is known for their breads and desserts. We read in the newspaper that Yalaha Bakery had outdoor entertainment every Saturday. Being big fans of breads and desserts, we hopped in the car and headed out there.

Outside, they had bratwurst and sauerkraut to eat and a bluegrass band for entertainment. This little bakery out in the middle of nowhere was packed! We have found that music is a big drawing card for snowbirds in Florida. In the photo below, you can see part of the crowd gathered to listen to bluegrass.

Inside the bakery, the delicious-looking baked goods were also a big draw since customers were lined up 4 deep. It was hard to get a good photo between all the people, but here is a small part of the selection.

We had a difficult time deciding what we wanted, but we ended up with a loaf of kalamati olive bread, a piece of Black Forest cake for Margery, and a piece of Sacher Torte (chocolate torte with apricot filling) for Paul for dessert. The desserts were as good as they looked. As you can see, there is already a bite missing form each piece because once we got them out of the box, we couldn't even wait until after the photo to try them!

After the surgery on Margery's left knee at the end of January, she had a lot of difficulty getting comfortable in the recliner in the motor home. The seat just hit her wrong in the back of the thigh and knee. Although it was a nice Flexsteel recliner, we lamented almost from the beginning that we didn't get Ultraleather instead of cloth for easier cleaning. Now that she was finding it uncomfortable, we started searching online to see what else might be available. We noticed most of the newer motor homes are using a Euro recliner with an ottoman instead of the larger, all-in-one recliner like we had. A lot of people that replace recliners in RVs go to Lazy Boy, but we couldn't find one near us. We did, however, find a company about an hour away near Tampa that did RV makeovers and that carried replacement RV furniture so we took a drive down. Well, they only had one REALLY comfortable recliner they called a "stressless" recliner from a company by the name of Villa. The only problem was that it was REALLY expensive.

That prompted more online searching, and we found another company from Norway called Ekornes that also made a recliner they called stressless. There was a store in the Villages that carried Ekornes so we drove there to take a look. They had a really good selection and we initially looked at the entry-level model with the basic leather upholstery. To make a long story short, they had a floor model recliner that was a couple of levels up from the entry-level model and that had a better grade of upholstery. They offered it to us at a very good price wanting to make room for new merchandise. Although it was still more than we originally intended to spend, it was too good a deal on a VERY comfortable chair so we couldn't pass it up. There goes the tax rebate we don't even have yet. As a bonus, Paul used our bathroom scale to weigh the old recliner, which we ended up selling to our neighbor here at the campground (who just happens to a snowbird from Leechburg, PA), and it weighed 112 lbs. The new chair and ottoman together weigh 53 lbs., which is a weight savings of over 50%! The photo below shows Paul enjoying our new chair.

On February 26, we headed down to Largo Medical Center at about 5:00 am (yikes!) for the surgery on Margery's right knee. Her left knee was well on its way to complete recovery after surgery 4 weeks prior and it was able to handle the task of now being the "strong" knee after the surgery on her second knee. The right knee got partial resurfacing as planned. The photo below shows Margery in her hospital room shortly before we checked out.

And here she is arriving back at the motor home about 24 hours after surgery.

Again, the first week was the hardest; but the experience with the first knee has helped us know what to expect, how to better manage pain, and how to better reduce bruising and swelling. As with the first knee, Margery ditched the walker after about 3 days. We put the walker out front of the motor home with a "Free" sign on it and it was gone within the hour. Paul is so proud of how well Margery has done through all of this. She has been a real trooper and has been very diligent with exercises and is committed to rapid recovery. And from Margery's point of view, Paul has been so supportive. He's been a great caregiver and coach.

While taking time for Margery's recuperation, Paul cleaned out and organized a couple of the outside storage bays, replaced a leaking support strut on one of the storage bay doors, modified a pair of replacement windshield wiper blades to fit the motor home, climbed up on the roof to remove and clean the roof vent covers, and inspected the roof joint caulking while he was up there. Margery continued her daily exercises and gradually increased the length of her daily walks.

At the beginning of March, some of the snowbirds began leaving the campground. For the most part, however, their spaces were taken by others who were just arriving so the campground remained pretty full. Although some of the new arrivals only stayed a day or two (they are probably on their way north from somewhere farther south in Florida), most had patio mats, chairs, and grills spread out and they stayed a week or two. Some of the new arrivals seemed a little younger and were probably not yet retired. There were even some younger kids, probably on spring break, visiting grandparents. During the winter, the campground is a 55+ park, but youngsters are allowed to visit. By the middle of March, there were a growing number of empty sites as many of the snowbirds began heading home in time for Easter.

We originally extended our stay in Florida from the beginning of March until just before Easter because of Margery's knee surgery. However, the week before Easter, Paul was hit with the respiratory version of the flu that was NOT covered by this year's flu shot so we extended our stay until after Easter. Paul tried his best to count his blessings...like he didn't have to push himself to go to work and we we weren't currently 'traveling'...but five days in bed and 9 days of feeling really crummy made it difficult. This was a stubborn flu that hit a fair number in the campground. We are so grateful that Margery did not get it, too. We used copious amounts of hand sanitizer and antiseptic wipes.

As Paul's flu subsided, we were finally in a position where we felt like making our spring travel plans, which included a leisurely drive north and a swing through Pittsburgh at the end of April for a short visit with Lora and J. Michael and a few doctor appointments we weren't able to fit in last August. However, shortly after we had made our doctor appointments, we received word that J. Michael's father, who had been recuperating from a bone marrow transplant in his second battle with acute leukemia, suffered an irreparable brain hemorrhage. An e-mail sent out by Lora stated: "The whole family and some friends were there the rest of the afternoon and through the evening. We sang, listened to the Word, told stories, and cried. It was a painful, but precious time. He slipped away with his loved ones gathered around him. We rejoice knowing that he is whole and with the Lord, but he will be greatly missed."

We spent a day evaluating our options in light of our original plans to arrive in Pittsburgh in late April. Do we leave the motor home in Florida, share the driving in the the Saturn to Pittsburgh for the funeral, stay with Lora and J. Michael a couple of days, then return to Florida and start a more leisurely journey north in the motor home? Or, do we hurriedly pack up the motor home and have Paul (who was still not feeling his best) do all of the 20-hour drive over two days, arriving a few weeks before spring. Economics, combined with our love for traveling with all the comforts of home at our fingertips, caused us to opt to check out of Blueberry Hill 12 hours later and leave for Pittsburgh with the motor home. We experienced God's grace in so many ways...the well-known, end-of-March spring break/snowbird exodus from Florida wasn't too bad traffic-wise, we made excellent travel time in pretty good weather, we found easily accessible campgrounds that were open, and Paul had the stamina to make the drive. We made a one-night stop just north of Charlotte, NC and made it to the KOA in Washington, PA, mid-afternoon the next day.

As we write this, we are so happy we made the effort to be here for the funeral. J. Michael's father was a simple man who loved people and loved the Lord. He lived a life of service and touched many lives, not only in the Life's Key Prison Ministry he founded with his wife, Mary Ann, but also as a teacher of God's Word. What a rich legacy he leaves. He was not only a servant of the Lord but a fun-loving, wise, devoted, and caring husband, father, and grandfather. He will be missed by all who knew him.

We plan to stay in Pittsburgh for the memorial service on Saturday. It will also give Paul a chance to continue his recuperation. We then have three weeks before we're due back in Pittsburgh for our previously scheduled doctor appointments when we'll park the motor home at Lora and J. Michael's. We are researching where we might go in those three weeks to re-capture spring and bring it back with us.